An Almost Perfect Storm
by DoctorRobbinsTorres
Summary: A multi-chapter fic that sees the end to Calzona and a journey no one saw coming. Callie has been here before, Arizona has lost control, and the world does not stop for anyone. What does it mean to be made for each other? Is it possible for two people to fall back in love? Or is it over for good?
1. Apparently I Lost You

**An Almost Perfect Storm**

**Summary: Nobody knows where they might end up. Tragedy comes and goes and as people we have no control. Callie and Arizona have no control. After their falling out they both have to travel their own paths to a life that regains what was lost. It's unknown if those paths diverge or intertwine. It's impossible to know if love will lead them apart or back together. Everything has been put in their way. All their strength will be tested. Surely hearts will be broken. The real question is- can hearts really be fixed?**

**AN: This is probably my most organized and planned piece of work ever. With huge creative input from logicbomb32 and calzonastories, I think this continuation of season 9/season 10 prelude is a gravely honest take on how relationships evolve once there's been cheating and mistrust. This ****story is not a game of favorites but it does have a focus on Callie's POV. WARNING: There may be non-Calzona relationships down the road (which is honestly realistic). If you hate that, hit 'exit' now. Also, I make no apologies about how I write this journey. Even though it's canon-ish you have to understand I'm not Shonda and somethings will not be exactly the same as hard as I try. I hope you all enjoy this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it.**

**Rating: Mature (for future chapters/sexual content/harsh language)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to the wonderful Shonda Rhimes and ABC. **

The worst moment in someone's life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do it stare blankly.

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

* * *

"You didn't lose _anything_!" Arizona spat out uncontrollably. The jealousy, the aggravation, and the resentment had all reached a devastating peak. There was no control left in the broken woman standing across from Callie. She couldn't pretend anymore, or lie to herself, or hide how she felt. They had smothered their problems to spare their sanity, only for them to resurface and rip everything apart. Now the two women hardly knew each other really. All these things that had gone unsaid were telling of two new people trapped in a dying relationship.

"Apparently I lost you." And it was true. As the hollow sentiment fell from Callie's lips she knew it was no denying it. Her love, her wife, her heart, had fallen and she couldn't save it. For months she'd been trying to hold their marriage together, but suddenly it was overwhelmingly clear it was over. All she could do was stare into the void, her mind blank, everything lost.

"I'm sorry," Arizona whispered. Her head hung, her eyes too unsure to face the brown orbs crying in front of her. "But I...I think I lost me too." She looked up and realized what that meant. When she looked at Callie she saw more than her wife. There was heartbreak, infidelity, the dream she didn't ask for, the leg she lost...the _life_ she lost. She was not Arizona Robbins, the 'good man in a storm'. She was Arizona Robbins, 'terribly broken and barely hanging on'.

Callie sucked in a heavy breath. The air was stale and burned in an inexplicable way. Maybe living had finally become as physically painful as it was emotionally painful. She tried to wipe her tears away and put on a brave face.

"If you don't love me. If you don't want to be in this marriage Arizona...No one is forcing you to stay."

"It feels like it though," the blonde mumbled to herself. She turned to leave the lounge but got caught just inside the door. "I do love you. But I'm not the w-woman you married Calliope."

As Arizona's voice cracked saying it, Callie's heart broke hearing it. Even through the tears and betrayal, her name rang from Arizona's lips like a song. God, she would miss that song. She would miss every inch of her wife and the family they had made. Sofia and Arizona were her whole reason for waking up every morning. Callie had lost everything else, even if Arizona didn't think so.

"So we're over?"

The peds surgeon could hardly bare the answer. Every goodbye she'd been through paled in comparison to this one. What could they have done? There was no compromise to be made. There was no give or take. When she left for Africa it was because she didn't want the future Callie had imagined. But how would they come to equal terms on a tragedy they had no say in? That plane crash happened _to_ _them_, they didn't _chose_ this!

So she just nodded her head slowly, not sure this was all real, and even less sure of how she was going win deal with this cold reality. As Arizona walked out she heard the trembling sobs erupt from her wife's chest. But still, she left...

* * *

It was another 20 hours before the storm cleared and people could start going home. It was 32 hours before surgeons actually got back in rotation and headed home to sleep. Callie was last to leave. She had no immediate desire to go to the apartment Arizona had insisted on accenting with earth tones. She wasn't looking forward to walking past Mark's empty apartment and remembering he was dead. Or lying in her bed and having nightmares about the nights she spent yearning to be in that very place. No...she welcomed the storm, the casualties, and the distractions.

She was waist deep in paperwork in her office when she heard a knock at the door. "Callie? Callie you in there?"

"Cristina?" The brunette thought out loud. She cocked her brow quizzically. Then she heard a baby giggle and knew right away it was her's. "Sofia?"

The door cracked and Yang peeked in. "Oh thank God," she sighed as she rounded the desk and handed the toddler over. "I do love the little thing but I am not mom material. Where have you been?"

Callie's eyes are wide with surprise. "Uh...I've been here mostly. What time is it?"

"Almost noon. Sofia was the last one at daycare so they called me. Why am I the emergency contact?"

"You're her _god mother_ Cristina," Callie said with some sass. She always wondered about that decision.

"Oh right. And _why_ did you pick me again?"

"It's cool Yang, I got her. Thanks for picking her up." Callie turned her attention to the happiest little baby bouncing on her lap. She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. Still, somewhere behind it was the pain that paperwork could only try to suppress, and Cristina saw it.

"I know it's probably none of my business but...you seem sad Callie. I've never been called to get Sofia before, so why today, where's Robbins?"

Despite Callie's best efforts, her mask started to crack. Her expression turned into one of defeated misery and tears slowly began to flood her eyes. She intended to sound rational but it all came out an emotional blur. "Because Arizona _cheated_ on me, I'll probably be a single mom, and before long a two-time bi-sexual divorcee!"

She broke down mid-sentence and her whole body shook from the grief. Cristina suddenly felt inadequately prepared to help. "Wow...umm, I...I-I don't know what to say Callie. I'm sorry."

The ortho surgeon sniffled back a bit and tried to salvage some of her dignity, mostly for Sofia. "Yeah...me too."

"I hated Owen," Cristina said matter-of-factly.

"What?" Callie asked before the dots connected.

"When Owen cheated on me I hated him. It's okay for you to hate Arizona too. Because if you're meant to be, the hate will turn out to be just more love." Cristina gave a sad smile and nodded her head before slipping back out the door, hopefully having helped more than hurt.

Callie wallowed in Cristina's advice for a beat before chubby toddler hands grabbed her attention, _literally_. Sofia cupped her face and tried unsuccessfully to kiss her mami. Instead she wound up dousing her face with drool, but it made Callie giggle. "I love you mija. Do you know that baby. I love you so so much!"

Sofia giggled back at her mami and started blowing kisses.

"Kisses for you too baby. Hey! Lets go home, kay? You wanna go bye bye? Yeah, let's go."

* * *

The apartment was not dark and empty like Callie expected. Arizona was sitting on the couch with her head propped on her fist. She'd been there for hours trying to figure out what to do. Her family defined her in every way and she had recently lost hold of that. She was now a woman with very little purpose as she sat in the house of haunted memories.

"What are you doing here," Callie asked, more ire in her voice than she intended.

"I still live here Callie."

"We could fix that," the Latina quipped. She was beyond uninterested in hiding her annoyance with Arizona's presence. She sat Sofia down in her high chair and tossed her keys across the kitchen counter. "Look Arizona, I don't want to talk. Not now at least," the Latina sighed. She leaned back against the counter and tried not to look rattled.

Arizona licked her lips, opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She was still at a complete lost for words. She was in her home but had the eerie feeling of being a stranger.

"I'm going to put Sofia down. Grab what you need and-"

"Maybe I should move out. I think it might be best..." Arizona cut in somberly.

Something about the fact that Arizona was offering to leave, and basically running away, made Callie livid. All she could picture was her wife with someone else. She could see Boswell's hands where only her hands should be, and it made her hot with rage. When she first found out she felt some pain, and some sadness, and lots of guilt. Now came the primitive anger. She was angry that Arizona blamed her, angry that she'd been cheated on _again_, and angry that her wife promised not to bail and yet here they were. Callie promised she would never leave Arizona's side but where was the reciprocation?

"You are unbelievable. You know what...leave!" Callie stormed into their room and dragged a suitcase from under the bed. She yanked open all of Arizona's drawers and emptied them half-hazardly atop the luggage. She went into the bathroom and came back with all the blondes things, dumping them in the messy pile. "I will never let you leave me again Arizona. You hear me!"

The peds surgeon was in no place to argue. Between her shock and fear all she could do was stand, mouth gaping, hoping the storm would end.

"You keep bailing. Again and _again_! Please just go..." Callie screams, her words turning from venomous yells to angry sobs. "Just go..."

Feeling less and less connected to reality, Arizona stood frozen for a moment more. When she locked that on-call room door she hadn't anticipated her life unraveling, but then again, it had unraveled in her mind a long time ago. Another roaring cry from Calliope brought Arizona back enough for her to realize she was crying herself. She flicked away the tear rolling from her baby blues and sucked in a tight breath. "I'll just umm...I'll stay at Mark's."

As she grabbed her pile of things, not caring that most of her stuff was not so ungraciously packed, she could not stand to look at Callie, it was too painful.

* * *

Later that night, after several glasses of wine, Callie thought to herself that she didn't want another divorce. After all the heartache with George she couldn't fathom doing it again. She didn't think she would survive another personal disaster.

As she sat on the couch deep in her dreary thoughts Sofia was blissfully ignorant of everything. It hadn't been long enough for her to miss Arizona so she just sat amongst her toys, cooing like the happy baby she was. Callie chanced a glance in her girl's direction and her heart skipped that familiar beat. Everything about Sofia was so joyful. Her laugh, her cheeky grin, and her wispy raven hair that was so much like Mark's. One thing Callie didn't lose was her amazing little girl.

And as if by queue, Sofia tottered to her feet and stumbled her way to her mami's spot on the couch. With a helping hand she was up next to Callie, falling into her lap with fits of giggles.

"What silly girl? You don't know what's going on, you're just happy right?" Sofia was swooped up into strong arms and held as if she'd never be let go. And in that moment Callie remembered her dream. She remembered that Sofia was what she always wanted and more than she could have ever asked for. Through all the humiliation and devastation there was hope somewhere after the storm. Her and her baby girl would make it. She would always have happiness so long as she had Sofia, and that was something she refused to lose.

**AN2: The goal is to have this fic completed before the premiere of season ten. Life willing, I will post a new chapter every Saturday (with occasional Sat/Sun combo posts) which should be feasible given that a lot of it is pre-written and all the plot is pre-determined. Thank you for trekking through this storm with me! **


	2. It's Still Dark Outside

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to the wonderful Shonda Rhimes and ABC.**

Everyone knows that storms always come to past. But even after the thunder stops and the lightning ceases, the hushed wind doesn't always clear the clouds. For days to come, it can remain very dark outside.

* * *

The computer by her patient's room is giving Callie all sorts of problems. She has resorted to simply thrashing the keyboard in hopes that she'll see the lab results she's looking for. All the noise she's making, and the unconscious grunting, draws everyone's eyes in her direction. Suddenly she can feel half a dozen people staring at her.

She looks around and unfortunately knows why they're all stealing glances. Aside from her disgruntled handling of the computer, Grey Sloan Memorial has officially discovered that her and Arizona are separated. It's been a full week since the storm, three days since Lauren took a permanent job at the hospital, and two days since Yang accidently told Meredith and Mousey overheard.

"Really? Take a picture, it'll last longer. Do some freakin work or I'll start firing people!" Callie yells, more than frustrated. It wasn't a regular thing for her to throw around the 'I own the hospital' card, but her anger was taking hold of her in a dangerous way.

Eventually she gave up on the computer and headed to the research lab. She had been working with her current patient for over a year. He came to her with what they thought was a pinched nerve in his spine, but turned out to be a congenital corticospinal bone defect. Part of the boys spinal cord was completely outside his spinal column. How he lived 15 years like that was incomprehensible. He didn't have any parents and came in as a homeless kid. Something about him was curiously charming and Callie always liked him a bit more than the rest of her patients.

Mitchell was his name and he'd gone through four surgeries already. Two were cut short because his body couldn't take the stress. One was unsuccessful due to tissue swelling that caused him temporary full-body paralysis. The fourth was just a surgery to correct the effects of the third. Now Mitchell was headed into his fifth surgery with significant damage to his lateral corticospinal tract and a last ditch hope that he could live pain free.

Callie was determined to figure out a way to reinsert the tract without sawing through his spine. They had yet to create a path big enough that the cord didn't threaten to tear or pinch, but could be made with enough precision to spare the intact nervous tissue. She figured they could use a laser to detach and reattach the tract without and major sawing. Shepherd had turned her down but she still had some hope. Otherwise Mitchell's chances of paralysis, and even complete loss of brain function, was extremely high.

No one had tried Callie's idea before so her searching was leading nowhere. And just as her aggravation mounted an intern came into the lab and proceeded to stare awkwardly as if Callie didn't know why.

"Hey! Either do some freaking research or get out," Callie yelled.

"Oh I wasn't staring because of- I mean...I wasn't staring at all. I was just-"

"You think I don't know that you, and every other person in this hospital, knows about me and Arizona. _I KNOW_! Todos en el hospital obviamente piensan que soy estúpida, pero lo sé! La _última_ cosa que necesito es su lástima y-y la opinión de todos. No necesito eso. Juro por Dios que si otra persona me da una mirada ... Me voy a la cárcel."

The intern just stood blinking in shocked confusion, not sure if they were expected to respond to the angry spanish ranting.

"Just...get out," Callie huffed, not in the mood to deal with people, yet alone a stupid intern. Once again her love life was the topic of everyone's gossip and it made her sick. If she could, she would just leave and never come back. If Seattle wasn't her home, if she didn't have a life and a history here, she would be gone the next day. But she was stuck, trying to recover from the storm that ripped her down.

* * *

"What's happening," Callie asked with panic heavy in her voice. Her and Derek went with their original plan to cut a path for the spinal cord, but something was going wrong.

"His bp just bottomed out. He's hypoxic," a nurse shouted from her spot by the monitor.

"Dammit, he's losing involuntary nerve function," Derek mumbled as she retracted his forceps.

"What happened Shepherd? He was just stable." Callie's eyes flashed with worry as she saw Mitchell's stats crashing.

Derek ordered for a dose of neurotransmitters to spark brain function. He called for suction and packing to reduce the swelling that was slowly taking over his view. He did everything he could think of but Mitchell kept slipping away.

Callie gave a few feeble suggestions but mostly she just watched. She stared on as her long time, brave, charming, and abandoned patient died. She left before Derek called it.

* * *

Karev hadn't spoken with Callie since the storm and maybe it was him unconsciously avoiding her. Arizona was one of the few people who supported him and believed in him. He had this unspoken loyalty to Arizona, but had known Callie for so long. When Robbins wasn't ready to come back to work him and Callie kind of supported each other. The whole separation left him torn as to who's side he was on.

So it was by chance that he walked into the attending's lounge as Callie sat quietly trying not cry..._again_.

"Oh...hey," he said softly.

Callie glanced up and was not all that thrilled to find Alex pouring a cup of coffee. "Hey," she said flatly.

The peds fellow considered leaving without another word but felt the need to say something. "Look Callie...I know Arizona messed up but maybe...I don't know but you guys seem meant to for each other or...whatever." He was relatively happy with that encouraging sentiment and turned to leave thinking he'd said the right thing.

The Latina answered with a sardonic and smoky huff of a laugh. "Yeah..."

The dark sound of it stopped Alex in his tracks. When he turned back around Callie was peering at him with her pained expression. "She hates me for taking that leg. She resents how unfair it seems. Apparently, she lost everything and I lost nothing."

Alex just listened to the dark words, nervous about how unsettled they made him.

"She says she trusted me and now she doesn't. But it was you..."

"Me?" Karev asked. He was unsure of what he'd done.

"You were there for the crash, _you_ did the R&R, _you_ cut that damn leg!" Callie hollered, her words echoing off the walls violently.

"Hey I told you what was happening. She was septic, what was I supposed to do? I told you to tell her it was me, I wanted the blame!"

"Then what?! She'd still blame me. I made the call, I'm her wife, I let her down. I didn't cut her leg off, I fought to save it, but it will always be my fault," Callie argued through her tears. She might not have been thinking clearly, or making a logical argument, but nothing seemed logical. It was all a mess. She was a mess. Every reminder of her past year tore down the strength she tried to build up.

"Callie...Robbins was never going to be the same after the crash no matter what either of us did. And maybe the cheating was a terrible way to fall apart but she was going to...eventually."

"She thinks I didn't lose anything but it feels like I lost _everything_...everyone."

After that there was nothing more for Callie to say. The tears slowed some but kept trailing down her face. She looked at Alex, silently begging for him to go back and undo the surgery that took her wife. Unfortunately all he could do was answer with a frown, unable to change what had been irreversibly done.

* * *

Back in her dreary apartment Callie was trying to watch Sofia, make dinner, and talk to some social worker about Mitchell's case. It was hard enough being home, immersed in her broken dreams and old memories, but now she brought her most tragic medical case home too. Losing Mitchell felt like the last straw. The ortho surgeon could not take another bit of misfortune. Not if she hoped to keep her sanity.

"Yes, he was well informed. Mitchell wanted to fight...Wait, are you calling me incompetent? Look lady, we were doing cutting edge surgery not pushing pens like you do everyday...Well you explain to me what else we could have done. He had no parents, no family, nothing! He was there all alone and abandoned."

Callie was arguing with the lady on the phone and trying to stir a pot of red sauce with her shoulder propping the receiver up.

"Do you even know what that means- to be alone? It's awful! being left to fend for yourself, raise a child, deal with it all alone? It all _sucks_!" Suddenly, Callie wasn't talking about Mitchell anymore. She was clearly talking about herself.

"No...uh he didn't have kids," she responded, less aggressively, to the social worker's confused inquiry. "I just meant...whatever. We did what we could and - _SHIT_!"

The pot went tumbling to the floor, splashing sauce everywhere. She groaned emphatically and stopped paying attention to the other woman entirely. To make things worse the noise spooked Sofia and she was now crying for her mami's attention and comfort.

"Sof please baby," the flustered mom begged of her toddler. Soon the dead-tone came through the phone and she realized she'd accidentally hung up on the social worker. Surely she'd get an earful for that when she called back. Callie dropped her shoulder to grab the phone but it slipped and fell into the mess instead.

"Are you kidding me," she growled with annoyance. When things were going wrong, there were going really really wrong!

Sofia began to cry louder and it almost drowned out the knocking. "One second," Callie called from the kitchen. She tossed a bundle of paper towels on the floor and rushed to the door.

"Mer, Derek?" Both were standing on the other side, much to Callie's surprise, with Bailey cradled in his carseat.

"We were getting the last of Mark's stuff out of his apartment for Arizona."

Callie frowned at the mention of her wife.

"Sounds like an eventful dinner," Derek joked. He peeked further into the apartment and saw the saucy kitchen and crying Sofia. "If you ever need help Callie, we'd gladly have Sofia over for a few sleepovers with Zola. They don't see enough of each other anyway," he added with a sad smile.

The brunette sighed heavily, feeling her exhaustion set in. "Thanks guys. I guess it's dumb to even ask because obviously-"

"Yeah we know. We're sorry Callie. Arizona never seemed the type," Meredith said.

"Right...well thanks again but I think I'll manage tonight."

"Alright then. We're done across the hall so we'll see you tomorrow." The couple headed down the hall but Meredith turned back while Derek went ahead. Her and Callie had a mixed past but after what Callie did for Derek, and their family, she wanted to offer the same help in return.

"Don't think it's you," she said before Callie could close the door.

"Ummm...?"

"I know you better than you think, and I'm sure you're not too happy about that. But you're my friend Callie and I want you to know after the George thing, the Erica thing, the Arizona thing...it's _not_ you," Meredith said firmly.

"Thanks Mer," Callie replied with her first smile in a long time. She opened her arms and gladly hugged Meredith Grey. They had not started out so friendly but she was more than happy to have someone when it felt like there was no one. When it was still so dark outside.

**AN: Updated early :) I know this is a very Callie-centric chapter, as are others, but there will be Arizona chapters and chapters with both. Still updating Sat!**


	3. Finally Running Away

**AN 1: Someone asked about the last chapter how Lauren would get job at the hospital when Callie gets a vote. Remember the votes are majority rule. The way it's written Lauren got the job when only 3 of the 6 acting board knew about the cheating. Seeing as how Lauren is an awesome surgeon it's unlikely she would have gotten a 'nay' from anyone other than Callie and Arizona.**

**Anyway, hope you guys don't hate it.**

******Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to the wonderful Shonda Rhimes and ABC.**

Seattle Grace, turned Seattle Grace Mercy West, turned Grey Sloan Memorial. All the pitfalls, all the drama, and all the disaster was centered in this one place. Three names, a whirlwind of problems, and yet some had managed to hang on. Even with the 60 mph winds they didn't let go. Their lives were not uprooted. They stayed, watched the eye of the storm come and go and come again. But if every year your life gets whipped up into a mess of ruble, why stay? Maybe this time, after the storm leaves, you should just run.

* * *

Arizona was hanging around the daycare like a paranoid criminal. She was constantly looking over her shoulder, worried about Calliope showing up. They had been putting off having another 'talk'. And by 'talk' they meant a tear-filled and intensely emotional back and forth. She was willing to fall into that 'talk' if it meant a few transient moments with her baby girl. She missed Sofia so much. Really it was her baby who inspired her to get up and start trying to live again. Not being with her was the worse.

"Are you here to pick her up," the daycare supervisor asked cheerily. She hadn't seen Arizona actually come get Sofia in over in weeks and she was worried.

"Oh...umm no, not today," Arizona answered with a sad smile. "Can I just visit for a bit?"

"Definitely," the young woman said, stepping aside to let Arizona in.

The blonde skipped over to Sof and kneeled down to help her build her block tower. "Hey baby boo..."

As they played Lauren happened to walk past and notice them. She waited casually outside the window and couldn't help smiling. Maybe somewhere in the back of her mind she felt bad for how it all happened, but on the surface she was more than thrilled to have a chance with Arizona. The shorter blonde was mysterious, and spunky, and strong. Arizona was terribly irresistible.

Dr. Boswell stood and let her eyes run up and down Arizona's form until the peds surgeon noticed and she was busted.

"Lauren," Arizona said with exasperation. She was worried enough about the state of her marriage, or separation or whatever, without Lauren constantly pushing things with them.

"Dr. Robbins," Lauren replied coyly, not discouraged by Arizona's frown. She could sense Arizona wasn't happy with her and tried to smooth things over. "I'm sorry. I never expected to come here and ruin a marriage. But can you blame me?"

Arizona tried not to fall for the banter. She tried to focus on what had been. She didn't want to feel happy about the attention and desire. But she couldn't help it.

"She's cute," Lauren said nodding towards Sofia. As Arizona turned to look back, Lauren leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "Almost as cute as you."

An uncontrollable grin spread across Arizona's face and Lauren walked away glad with the results of her efforts. A second later Arizona headed back to work too. All the while, from a nurses station a few feet away, Callie looked on, drowning in defeat. It seemed more and more obvious that Arizona was being swept away...and more specifically, away from her.

* * *

It was gut-wrenchingly clear that there was no point in waging a war Callie couldn't win. She left work early with Sofia and wasn't entirely sure what do. She drove aimlessly for a while considering the possibility of driving until she ran out of gas, starting anew, and leaving it all behind her. Sure she had Meredith's support but she wasn't ready to raise a child on her own. Not if she was constantly trying to overcome her past.

Her mind would not calm. Her heart just kept racing. The struggle just continued on as if it started fresh every second. It seemed inescapable.

Callie might have driven until she couldn't any more but she got a phone call somewhere near the Seattle city limits. She realized she had been speeding, way more than she ever had with Sofia. It scared her how zoned out she had been and she answered her phone with a trembling hand.

"Hello?" Her voice cracked with nervousness.

"Calliope, mija," came from her father on the other side. "Why haven't I heard from you?"

It was hard enough dealing with all the judgement from her coworkers and friends. Callie didn't want to deal with that from her dad too. She knew very well that he was connected enough to have gotten news about her separation but she didn't have the heart to tell her dad she'd ruined another marriage.

"I know daddy. I just...I couldn't. Not this soon." She pulled over and leaned back into the driver's seat.

"I'm worried about you Calliope. You love so hard and so strong. Seems things never work out so well. It can't be easy on you," Carlos admitted with concern.

A shaky sigh rushed from Callie's chest as her dad's thoughts became her own. He was right. Nothing was easy. Things never went the way she wanted them to...ever. "I don't know what to do daddy. When Mark died I had Arizona. But now I don't have either of them. I feel so alone."

It killed Carlos to listen the emptiness in Callie's voice. He could hear the unnatural darkness settled over her. Every word threatened to burst into a sob. Never had he experienced such heartache as a parent. "Why..." he hesitated for second. He didn't know how Callie would react. "Why don't you come home?"

"Daddy, no. I can't just...just leave."

"What's left for you there? Here you have family, love, support."

Those words hit Callie in a sobering way. Everything she had lost, or was losing, in Seattle, she had some form of it at home in Miami. Family, love, and support were what she needed the most.

Carlos could sense her hesitation as he waited, so he offered a compromise. "When I finally came to accept your love for Arizona it was because I realized that I couldn't keep waiting to catch you when you fell."

Callie remembered their reconciling conversation very well.

"But please come home mija. Just for a week or so...Let daddy help you, because it's my job to at least pick you up _once_ you fall." When he was done, the worried father just waited and hoped his girl would let him be there for her.

"Ok daddy. I'll just leave in the morning. I have to pack and get a ticket-"

"No tickets mija. I'll send the jet. Just come home."

"Okay. I...I love you daddy."

"I love you too, very much, Calliope."

* * *

The Torres estate was not very different than Callie remembered it. She hadn't been home in over a year because her and her mom never came to terms about her marriage. The winding driveway cut through a quarter mile of perfectly landscaped yard before it ended in a circle at the doors. The house was just as big as before. The cars neatly parked in the garage were newer than the last few, but just as expensive and well kept.

None of that is what made Callie feel safe and at ease. It was all the familiar faces. The same butlers and chefs were there. Her sister had yet to fly the coop, and her presence was more than welcomed. All Callie's childhood photos decorated the walls and shelves. There were pictures of her horseback riding, snorkeling, sailing, and even standing atop a few South American mountaintops. It felt interestingly good to be home.

The orthopedic surgeon and her little Sofia sat in the spacious den the night she arrived and enjoyed the view of the setting sun out the bay windows. Callie reclined against the arm of the big couch and bounced Sof on her lap. She made ridiculous baby noises at her daughter, which earned her endless and very loud laughs. "Moo moo moo! Hi! Hi baby!"

Before long the toddler's eyes were drooping and sleep called for her. Callie sat her down and let her fall against her chest all on her own. With a fistful of her mami's shirt, Sofia drifted quietly into a careless sleep.

"I'm sorry about all this baby. I tried to save your momma...God I wanted nothing more than to help her. I just wasn't strong enough. Now we're here, vanished in the middle of the night to abuelo's house," Callie thought out loud, knowing Sof wasn't listening.

"What are we gonna do baby?"

The tears threatened to spill again just as Lucia walked into the den. She left a safe distance between her and Callie, not sure it would be okay for her to intrude.

"Mom?" Callie furled her brow when she noticed the elder Torres woman standing in the doorway. She hadn't come to the airport to pick her and Sofia up so Callie was confused.

"Hello Calliope," Lucia greeted tentatively. "How was your flight?"

"Nine hours on a private jet...it was just fine mom," Callie said with some unwarranted bitterness. But then again her mom hadn't earned her patience or respect.

"Oh good. Can I come in, and maybe sit down for a bit?"

The younger woman knit her brow even deeper. She was not expecting more than a passing glance from the mother that so clearly disagreed with her entire life. But she was curious enough to hear Lucia out. "Sure. Just be kind of quiet. Sofia is almost sleep."

The grandmother tiptoed over to the couch and sat by Callie's feet. She folded her hands in her lap and stiffly took in the awkward moment. It seemed she had a lot to say but all she offered was silence.

"If you came in here to spew some wrath of God, gay sin bit, I don't want to hear it mom. I'm an adult. I make my own decisions. This was my decision and it just didn't-"

"No no no...Callie I'm not here for that. I'm here...well I came...I was hoping," Lucia stammered. She was trying to get it out but it was hard for a woman with her type of religious conviction. "I'm sorry."

Callie's eyes got big and her mouth fell open slightly. Had she heard that right?

"I am not perfect. I'm no saint Calliope. Your father has been trying to get me to see reason and I think I've found it." She reached out and put her hand atop Callie's, which was resting on Sofia's back.

"Mom.."

"I wish I had been at your wedding. I wish I had seen sooner. Love is love and that's in the good book more than any other lesson. Treat others with love, find love, give love." Lucia's eyes started watering but she held it back. "I just want my daughter to have love and be loved and be happy."

"So you don't think I'm going to hell?" Callie asked, referring to her mother's sentiments the day before her wedding.

"I know you have a good heart. I wouldn't condemn you and I don't think our Lord would either."

Silent tears dripped down to Callie's chin. Finally she was crying tears of joy and not tears of sorrow. She lifted her hand and grabbed onto her mom's tightly. She hadn't thought about how much she missed her mom until she suddenly had her back.

Amidst the cleared air Callie and Mrs. Torres found a bit of peace. It was fleeting but wonderful all the same. Soon though, Lucia's smile turned to a frown and she had to move on to the other thing she wanted to talk about.

"Now, I know you were in love with Dr. Robbins-"

"Its Arizona, mom."

"Right," Lucia accepted, not wanting to diverge from her point. "You two were married for a reason. But infidelity is a _true sin,_ dear. I have come to realize being a umm...lesbian...is not so bad. But going against nuptials is unforgivable."

"_Mom_," Callie drawled, not liking the new direction of their conversation. She was glad her mom wasn't passing judgment on her sexuality but judgement on her marriage wasn't much better.

"Calliope," her mom said sharply, squeezing her hand to grab her attention. "I am serious. You and that woman built a life together and she disrespected that. Now I think there's things you need to do. You need to remove her name from Sofia's birth records. Your dad still knows the lawyer who made that happen in the first place. And you need to change my granddaughter's name and get rid of that second middle name- Robbin-"

"I am not changing our baby's name," Callie argued in aggravation. But Lucia cut back in.

"Sofia does not belong to the both of you. She is your's and you allowed Arizona to be her mother. It seems to me she does not want that role and you ought not let her play 'mom' as she sees fit."

"I don't think that's right. This is our baby. She loves Sofia-"

"And that's wonderful," Mrs. Torres interrupted again. "But what if things get messy? You need to be legally protected."

Callie was starting to feel very attacked. Her mom had neglected to be a mother for the last year or so. Now she wanted to be in Callie's life? Tell her what to do? It seemed hypocritical to the younger woman.

"You can't just pick and choose when _you_ want to 'play mom'," Callie challenged, throwing her mother's words back in her face.

"Okay," Lucia huffed. She stood up and folded her arms self-consciously. She didn't really want to push things with Callie only minutes after their big reunion. "I know you can make your own decisions. Just give it some thought dear. As much as you may not believe me, I don't want to see you get hurt anymore. If you leave Arizona her rights she has the power to keep tearing things away from you. Don't let her..."

With that, Lucia left. Callie remained in the stale silence. She could feel her heart beating faster under Sofia's weight as she gave the conversation more thought. It became increasingly scary to think that maybe the storm wasn't over. What if her and Arizona never made it out of their separation? What if her wife moved on, started a life with someone else, and wanted to take Sofia? Callie realized she didn't have the heart to run away as bad as things were, but she might have to protect herself from the storms that had yet to come.

**I know by now people want to see Arizona's side and that's coming. And before you send long enraged comments, consider for a moment what kind of first-instinct reactions you would have in this situation. Keep in mind people don't act reasonably in times like this. This isn't fluff, this is drama. Thanks for reading on...much more to come.**


	4. Search and Rescue

**********Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to the wonderful Shonda Rhimes and ABC.**

It always seems like there are never enough helping hands after a storm. Red Cross comes in and the coast guard shows up but people still go missing in action. Kids lose parents, parents lose their sanity, and the chaos continues. You survive the twisters and floods only to fall victim to the failed search and rescue of everything you love. Fact is, you're bound to lose something. You can survive the injuries but can you survive the trauma?

* * *

"Has anyone heard from Callie," Arizona asks Avery quietly during a board meeting. He curls his brow with a bit of worry. As far as he knows Callie hasn't been around and it's weird that even Arizona hasn't gotten word of her whereabouts. Unfortunately he doesn't know anymore than Arizona.

A look of grave concern befalls the peds surgeon. It's been three days since she heard Callie get paged. What if she had been gone longer than that?

Just as she leaned over to ask Cristina if she knew anything, Owen adjourned the meeting and the cardiac surgeon immediately shut her notebook and stood to leave.

Arizona hurried after Yang but got stopped by Owen. "Have you talked to Torres at all? The nurses are complaining because they had to reschedule her surgeries the past few days. Did she leave town, take some time off, or..."

"I honestly know less than you. I'm worried though."

Owen saw how frazzled his head of peds was but had little more than condolence to offer her. "How about you ask Cristina and Meredith. They're pretty on top of those kinds of things...I think."

Arizona sighed at the lack of progress and nodded defeatedly. She waited for the chief to leave before she let her emotions come to surface. Honestly she was panicking. This was all wrong! None of it was what she wanted!

When she lost her leg she thought she'd never care about life again. Nothing had purpose, her will to live was weak, and there were so many nights she wished she had just died in the woods.

What made it all worse was her commitments. She wanted so badly to wither away but she had a baby, and a wife, and a career. So she had to pull it together before she was ready. She had to be a 'good man in a storm' without even knowing what that meant after all she suffered through. Now she felt more dark and hopeless than ever before. She was not Arizona Robbins, or Callie's wife, or the kickass peds surgeon who used to perform miracles. As she stood crying quietly in the empty meeting room, she realized she was nothing...that's all she could feel. Absolutely _nothing_.

Eventually the rush of self-hate passed and Arizona wiped her tears away. After a few shaky breaths she tried to put herself back together. Her mind tried to refocus on what she could control. She needed to figure out where Callie had gone.

Her last chance was Cristina and Meredith. She asked almost everyone else and it seemed no one knew where here wife was. The blonde wondered if that's what Callie wanted- to disappear and leave Arizona lost.

As her thoughts raced uncontrollably in her mind, Arizona's feet raced determinedly through the halls. Somewhere in the ICU she spotted the two women she was looking for chatting at a nurses' station. She took a deep breath to level herself and stuffed her hands in her lab coat pockets. When she got close enough she cleared her throat casually.

"Hey," Cristina said shortly without so much as a glance. Meredith busied herself with a chart she had never actually seen before.

"I don't mean to intrude ladies, I just haven't heard from Calliope and I was wondering if maybe you heard from her."

"Nope," Cristina answered with an uninterested glance.

"Me neither," Meredith added, still 'reading' the random chart.

"Oh okay..." Arizona was feeling like her last shot was a bust. She stood for a second more and caught on to the cold shoulder she was getting from the two surgical fellows. She pursed her lips in offense, not sure why she was being dismissed.

"I'm sorry, did I do something to offend you all?"

Cristina rolled her eyes and sighed. No one liked choosing sides but it was inevitable in a way. "You cheated on Torres with Blondie 2.0"

"Wha...well that's ummm...th-that's none of your business. We're all professionals here and should act like it," Arizona insisted. Suddenly she felt nervous and embarrassed. She figured people knew but it was hard hearing it, and even harder dealing with the affects of it.

Meredith finally turned around to respond. "Arizona we like you...You're a great surgeon and a good friend. It's hard not to like someone who survived a plane crash with us. You even helped Zola when me and Derek couldn't, and we'll always be grateful for that. But Callie...she's been through _even more_ with us. She knew us when we were just stupid interns. Before the plane crash there was the bomb, and the Ferry, George's dad died, Cristina got left at the altar, and there was this horrible panty scandal. Callie was there for all that even though we didn't treat her so kindly at first. She's been a _great _friend and a mentor. Me and Cristina owe her a lot. So you cheated, and it doesn't make you a bad person, but it sucks for Callie, _our friend_. Sides have been made and we choose her's...Sorry."

Arizona's eyes looked back and forth between Meredith and Cristina, astounded by the brute honesty. There was a sadness and pain behind her baby blues as she realized what people must think of her. As childish as people say it is, choosing sides is just what happens when two people split up. Friends are as equitable as bank accounts and houses. She dropped her head and tried to hide how hurt she was.

"Nevermind then I guess..." She turned on her heels and quickly walked away, not wanting to be any more vulnerable than she already was.

* * *

Six hours later Arizona had yet to figure out where Callie was. At first she figured nothing bad could have happened. No one's luck was that shitty. But without cause her mind started fabricating these terrible ideas that Callie was dead. All she could think was her wife, who she cheated on and pushed away, was lying in a morgue somewhere with her baby girl lost to some foster care system. The thought of it was horrid but she couldn't make herself think anything else.

As if she hadn't cried enough, the tears kept streaming while she sat on the edge of an on-call bed. She must have been louder than she thought because someone came knocking. Before the peds surgeon could pull it together and tell whoever it was to go away, the door cracked open enough for Lauren to look in cautiously.

"_Heyyyy_...you okay?" The taller blonde came in and ignored Arizona trying to seem put together. "You don't have to pretend for me."

"What?" Arizona said through some sniffles. She refused to let her guard down. Even with the very women she fell apart with.

"I can only imagine how hard this is, and I'm not going to pretend that I know. I don't know. Hell, I don't think anyone knows," Lauren said with a somber laugh and a comforting smile. She may not have been Arizona's wife but she sure as hell didn't want to see her like this.

Arizona wiped her face again and looked up at Lauren. She found it oddly natural to connect with those green eyes. They kind of sparkled the way her's used to. It was simply mesmerizing. Not to mention all the things she wanted to hear, and yearned to hear, fell so effortlessly from Lauren's lips. It was like a trap she couldn't resist.

"Actually everyone knows...that's the problem. Everyone knows everything about everyone else and now I'm this monster. I'm...a cheater, and no one respects a cheater," Arizona explained. She bit her lip to stifle the endless flow of tears.

"It'll past. They'll realize you're still a good person and start treating you the same again. They just don't see things from your point of view. You lost a lot Arizona. More than a leg, and I think, more than anyone else. I mean Derek got his hand back, Meredith and Cristina are fine from what I can see. But _you_...everything is different and you found a way to still be this remarkable woman. If no one else gets that then shame on them." Lauren spoke so confidently and with such grace. Who wouldn't hang on every word and get caught by every quirky smile?

Arizona felt so guilty for leaning into it, but she just couldn't help it. "I see you cyber stalked all of us..." she managed to say jokingly.

"The doctors that bought a hospital? No need to stalk, it was all over the medical scene." Lauren made this dramatic expression to emphasize how famous Grey Sloan was and for a split second got Arizona to giggle.

But as soon as that giggle faded, the grief reclaimed Arizona's whole demeanor. "I feel like I'm going crazy," she said, searching for some reassurance, desperate for answers and not just fleeting moments of cheer.

"You're not crazy. You're amazing."

The shorter blonde strained a smile because she didn't want Lauren to feel as inadequate as she was. No one's compliments and no one's kindness was going to be enough to pull her from the darkness. She would have to start being strong for herself, recovering for her own sake, and doing it all on her own time.

The stiff grin didn't fool Lauren at all. "I told you no pretending. If everything I say doesn't magically make you better that's normal. _You're_ gonna be the first person to put a real smile on your face."

Seeing little change in the other woman's mood, Boswell decided to give the Arizona some space to think, so she stood up to leave.

"I guess you're right," Arizona responded quietly, no longer bothering to put on a smile. "But it'd be easier to smile if everyone I worked with didn't think I was a bad person."

"Not everyone," Lauren practically purred. She gave Arizona a flirty wink and headed towards the door.

"And Arizona..." she stopped to glance over her shoulder before finishing, "falling out of love doesn't make you a bad person."

After another coy smile Lauren disappeared into the hall.

Arizona's eyes dropped to the floor and she whispered almost inaudibly, "Yeah...but I haven't fallen out of love."

* * *

It's almost the end of Arizona's work shift and the end of her 4th day without hearing or seeing Calliope. It's all weighing on her heavily and it shows in her disposition. She does rounds with her interns but doesn't have that pep in her step or super magic smile. The best she can do is look conscious.

She mopes to the locker room and doesn't feel like taking off her scrubs. She throws a jacket on over her navy blue apparel and slings her purse over her shoulder. She lingers by her locker a bit longer than usual, staring at a photo of Sofia, who she misses in a painful way. She thinks of how much she'd give to go back and do things over. Maybe do things better.

Alex came in just before Arizona decided to leave. He hadn't seen her much that day and when they talked it was all about finding Callie. Nonetheless, he wanted to talk now, since Arizona seemed zoned out.

"Robbins, you got a sec?"

Arizona turned to see Alex walking towards her. He stopped on the other side of the bench and just stood for a second without saying a word. Arizona, who was tired and wanting her bed, raised her brows as if to ask _'how can I help you_'.

"You doing okay?" He asked tentatively. He looked over his mentor's features and didn't like how worn down and exhausted she looked. When he was a mess about Izzie, living in the parking lot, struggling to get by, Arizona gave him the push to get it together. He was realizing his friend needed the same from him.

"I'm okay...Callie's still missing though," Arizona lied. Callie was missing but of course she was not at all _'okay'_.

"You don't look so hot Robbins. You're hair's a mess, you haven't had on makeup in days, and the last time I saw you playing freeze with the kids was two weeks ago," Karev pointed out.

His serious look told Arizona that she might as well be honest. Karev was actually the only person she'd always been honest with. Even when her feelings weren't so true or kind, she never held back with him...almost like when Tim was around. So she told him the truth...

"Callie's missing and I'm scared I'll never see her again. Never get to say I'm sorry. I've been coming to work, doing my job, smiling like I'm fine when I'm not. When I try to tell myself I'm normal I break out in cold sweats, dreaming I'm in the woods. Or I get sharp pains from a leg I don't have. O-or I look down and_ don't have a leg_. I'm _not _normal and I'm _not _okay."

"Then be 'not okay'. No one would blame you if you went bat-shit crazy for a few months. Yang sure did and we accepted you though...we're all confused because we thought that you were better because that's what you wanted us to believe."

"I wanted you all to believe it so maybe...maybe I would too." Arizona's bottom lip started to tremble but she bit back the tears.

"No one was rushing you. You didn't have to be 100% until you-"

"Everyone was rushing me!" Arizona yelled, unable to reign in all her emotions. Alex jumped a bit, taken aback by the pure intensity of the blonde's voice. "You, the physical therapist, Bailey, Callie. Oh God, especially Callie...And I get it. She didn't want to lose me, Sofia needed her mom, there had to be some tough love but _I wasn't ready!"_

The undone peds surgeon started gasping for air. The grotesque reality of her words were stealing her breath away. She felt lightheaded in the moment and fell into a seat on the bench before she collapsed.

"Is that why you cheated? You blame her?" Alex knew his inquiry was encroaching a lot on Arizona's personal life but it was a bit late for them to start putting up boundaries.

"I cheated because it felt so good to let go. To stop holding my breath waiting for a mental breakdown. Lauren made me feel carefree, bubbly, sexy... all those things I used to be. There's this big space between me and Callie because she fell in love with the Arizona that trusted her with everything. I wish I was the same Alex." The blonde raked her fingers through her hair and blew out a heavy breath. All this stress made her want a cigarette.

"I gotta tell you something," Alex began in spite of his nervousness. He was doing what he wanted to do months ago. What he thought was right.

"I did the amputation. I...I cut your leg off. Not Torres. Callie only made the call because I rushed into Shephard' surgery was me."

Bewilderment fell over Arizona's expression. She was not so much surprised as she was unsure. Why hadn't anyone told her Karev made the cut? Why didn't Callie bring that up all those times Arizona blamed her? Did it even matter? Hadn't it been Callie's decision?

"You hear me?" Karev inquired. He couldn't read the blank look of the open-mouth, doe-eyed peds surgeon.

"I need to go," Arizona mumbled. Her head darted around looking for her keys. She grabbed them off the bench and rushed to the door.

"Well say something," Alex demanded. He needed to know he did the right thing in telling his mentor what really happened.

Arizona froze by the door but didn't look back. "Thanks for telling me the truth Alex but I need to go make some calls and find Callie."

"Well I'll help you look. If you're really worried I know some people. We can find her together."

The dazed woman turned a bit and smiled. "Thanks."

Alex nodded reassuringly and Arizona left.

She was either thinking at an incomprehensible speed or was thinking nothing at all. Her anger, regret, and mistrust were rooted in one moment she obviously didn't understand. What would she have done if Callie was dying? What would she have said if Karev came to her panicked?

She had been searching for a way to forgive Callie. Arizona wanted so desperately to get over how betrayed she felt. Maybe this was her chance to come to terms with everything that had happened. She lost a leg and the decision to take it wasn't so black and white anymore. She was drowning in a gray void of misjudgement and misunderstanding.

It felt like there was no air.

It felt like she had made an awful mistake.

Callie was the one who'd gone missing but it was Arizona who felt the need to be rescued.

**AN: This was the Arizona chapter for those of you who've been waiting. There's much more to come, so I may update tomorrow. We'll see...Happy reading!**


	5. Help Is On the Way

**********Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to the wonderful Shonda Rhimes and ABC.**

When you're sitting amongst the ruins everything seems so precious. You realize how much you loved this thing or that thing. It's painful trying to pick through the debris and salvage what you can. Half-way through it's easier to just give up. Let it wither away because you can't stand to properly bury it. That's when you need a friend. Someone who can remind you that this is your last chance to actually appreciate what you took for granted. It takes someone firm, loving, and caring to make you stop, think, and remember...it wasn't always so bad.

* * *

Tip toeing around Mark's old apartment there is a very anxious Arizona. It's officially been two weeks since she's heard from Callie. Apparently the brunette's okay because she called Hunt five days ago to apologize and work out what's left in her vacation time. Turns out those two formed a bond some time ago because Owen has been tight-lipped about Callie's information since they talked. The fact that Owen was keeping quiet out of respect for Callie didn't change how worried Arizona was. She still got these horrible flashes in her head of car wrecks, and gunman, and all the highly _improbable _things that _probably would _happen to a Grey Sloan surgeon.

It was almost five in the morning, the tiles on the floor were frigid, yet Arizona was up waiting on a call. Karev said he had someone who would be on the lookout for Callie in the Miami area. Even though Carlos wasn't taking Arizona's calls, the blonde had a gut feeling that's where her wife was. But it was _only_ a gut feeling and she was desperate to have a real answer.

She crept into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. She hopped up on the counter and waited while her feet swung from the edge. When her phone finally rang she nearly twisted her good ankle springing from the counter and hustling to the coffee table.

"Hello!"

"Were you running?" Karev inquires. He can hear the winded whistle of Arizona's nervous breathing.

"Did you hear anything," Arizona shot back anxiously, not interested in anything else.

"Yeah. Looks like she's in Miami at her dad's place. I guess Mr. Torres was dodging you for a reason."

Arizona frowned into the receiver. Her and Carlos had a rough start but she always liked him in a way. She guessed their bond only went so far now that she'd cheated on his daughter.

"Thanks Karev. I'll see you at 8 for Arnold's ileostomy." She hung up and dropped the phone on the couch before flopping down after it. She threw her good leg up over the arm and sprawled her other limbs out recklessly. She'd been so wound up and worried sick about Callie that she hadn't really slept in weeks. Even though her mind was foggy with work stuff and being ignored by her father-in-law, sleep now came easy. In minutes she was out. No dreams. No tussling. Just sleep.

But it didn't last long enough. Around 7:00 a knock came at the door that yanked Arizona from her unconsciousness.

"Huh! Wha?" She jolted up and looked around alarmed, searching for the source of the noise.

When another knock came she realized someone was there to see her. She peeled herself off the couch and trudged over to the door. "Lauren?"

"Hey sleeping beauty," the taller blonde teased. Leaving a kiss on Arizona's cheek she walked in without invitation.

"I always thought of myself as more of a Cinderella girl," the peds surgeon mumbled with pouty lips. She didn't recall inviting Lauren over and it was becoming increasingly difficult to act like there was nothing more 'involved' happening between them.

"I brought coffee." Lauren held out a carrier of coffee cups and a bag of pastries. "And bagels..."

Arizona tried to look unaffected by the sweet gesture but her dimples deceived her. She smiled a little and grabbed the food. "I don't remember making a breakfast date. Especially not at 7am while I'm still in my nighties," she said cheekily.

Lauren craned her head over the breakfast bar and soaked in the morning view of Arizona in shorts and a tank...possibly sans a bra. "You didn't, but I'm glad I invited myself."

"Hey! Eyes up here," Arizona said pointedly. She let herself giggle a bit and kind of forgot how incredibly messy her and Lauren's dynamic was already. When she remembered, her smile went flat. "This can't be a regular thing you know.."

"And why is that Dr. Robbins," Lauren asked smoothly. Her words always rolled off her lips like silk. Her smile was always enticing like honey to a bee. The eternal charmer.

Arizona sighed as she stopped spreading cream cheese on a bagel. "Because Callie and I are only separated. I feel like a divorce is coming but even when it does, I'm not...I can't be involved."

Lauren's green eyes suddenly seemed somber. She was certainly chasing Arizona, but didn't want to chase her away. "Okay...how about I go then, and I'll just see you at the hospital?"

"Yeah, okay," Arizona agreed. She walked Lauren to the door and waved as she disappeared down the hall. When she closed it behind her she slid down against the smooth wood. What the hell was she doing?

Her mind soon went back to Calliope and she decided she wanted to call before she went to work. She struggled back to her feet and got her phone off the couch. She knew Callie would never answer but Carlos might. She dialed his number private and held her breath.

"Carlos Torres," came from the elder man on the other line.

"Carlos it's me Arizona. _Don't hang up_," she pleaded quickly. "I know Callie is there. _Please_ just let me talk to her. It's been weeks."

She could almost hear the internal struggle Carlos was trying to overcome. He was still upset with Arizona but knew Callie couldn't keep hiding.

"One moment," he said before the line went silent. A few minutes later Callie answered, "Dr. Torres speaking."

"Callie..."

The latina knew the voice instantly. It used to sound like a beautiful song...used to.

"What," she hissed.

"I've been worried sick for the past two weeks. Where's Sofia? You can't just up and leave without saying anything," Arizona shot back all in a one breath. She didn't intend on being aggressive but Callie's tone didn't help, and neither did her sleep depravity, or two weeks worth of stress.

"She's with me- her mother. And it seems neither of us have been stand-up partners Arizona."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know good and well what it means. I needed to be somewhere where I had support, so I came home. Sue me!" Callie was quickly becoming aggravated talking to Arizona. Her conversation with Lucia had triggered a very hostile view towards their crumbling relationship.

Arizona took a deep breath and tried to respond sensibly. "I'm upset because you could have died and I wouldn't have had any idea. I didn't sleep. All I did was stay up thinking of you and Sofia."

Callie huffed incredulously. She found no sympathy for Arizona feeling the same way she had those cold nights when everyone was lost in the woods. "Not so fun is it? I just wish you had been thinking of me during the storm the way I was thinking of you. Looking for you that _whole_ night. That would have been a good time to start. Not now..."

Those words hit Arizona like an anvil. She felt shrunken, guilty, attacked, and hurt. All her concern was being thrown back in her face and used as a weapon of shame. If Callie didn't know, she felt horrible, like the worst person in the world. What she did and who she'd become went against everything she was raised to be. Arizona felt like she was dying a little whenever she remembered how she slipped into the gravest mistake of her life.

"I am _sorry_ Callie. What else do you _want_ from me? Beg? Do you want me to beg, because I'll do it if you just accept that I hate myself for hurting you..._again_!" Arizona shouted through hot tears.

Her weeping did nothing to stall Callie's ire.

"What I want is my wife back but that ship has sailed. So just...leave me alone. Let me go deal with everything I _haven't_ lost."

"Callie..."

"No. You said it Arizona. I wasn't there, I didn't lose anything, I took your leg. Period. You're clearly done with this relationship...me too." Callie trailed off at the end as she absorbed what she was saying. She honestly hadn't come to this realization before this conversation, but her mind was pulling her there. She was giving up.

Arizona steeled her voice because she wasn't looking for pity. If this is what they'd come to the only thing left to fight for was Sofia. "What about Sof? I'm her mother..."

"For now..." Callie replied bluntly.

She could almost hear the shock in Arizona's silence, and when the blonde didn't answer, she hung up.

* * *

It took two more days for Callie to come back to Seattle. She'd been at her parent's place for 15 days and knew she couldn't just hide there forever. What gave her the push to get back to Washington and back to work was a call from Owen.

A year prior Callie applied for funding for a medical trial to develop a new surgical method to correct to congenital defect Mitchell had. His case had been the worse she'd seen but she'd seen it before. The bulk of the problem was orthopedic so she saw an opportunity to do something meaningful and important. Owen called to confirm that she got approval for the trial.

Her last four days in Miami were mostly filled with work at a nearby research hospital where she was setting things up in advance. When she got to Seattle she'd have three patients ready for evaluation and she'd be knee deep in the trial within weeks.

Much to Callie's expectations and the entire hospitals surprise, it didn't take long at all for her to start seeing success. She lost her first two patients and that was a struggle. Remorse about Mitchell resurfaced almost everyday. On top of that her and Arizona's relationship was sinking fast. The separation turned into a bitter at-odds dynamic- basically a divorce.

Callie could only cringe in disdain as she watched Arizona fall into the waiting arms of Lauren Boswell. She avoided peds with a passion because every sight of the green eyed woman was unnerving, especially when she so openly laid her hand on the small of Arizona's back, or leaned in close when they spoke.

Callie withdrew into her work and it paid off in a major way. By her third patient she was seeing improved results. Two months and three patients later she was seeing consistent success. The type of success you just never saw in trial.

It initially caused a hospital wide interest. Interns were flocking to her service. She couldn't get coffee without half a dozen surgeons asking about her progress. It was all a welcomed reprieve from her previous onslaught of misfortune.

Next came the national recognition. Ortho surgeons were calling her from out of state hospitals like Hopkins and Mayo. They wanted in, they wanted guidance, they wanted to simply gawk at what was happening at Grey Sloan Memorial.

Needless to say, the next step was talk of awards as soon as the trial was finished and published. It all happened so fast.

* * *

Callie was charting some results from the her last few trial patients when Jackson came into the research lab.

"Hey there superstar," he said cheerily.

Callie chuckled at the accolade she hadn't decided she deserved just yet. "How's it going Avery?"

"So so," he answered modestly, wanting to steer clear of an April conversation. There was a beat of silence before Callie spoke again.

"Hey! I just realized how great a team we made fixing Derek's hand. Why haven't you been on this with me?" Callie knit her brow, thoroughly confused because she was a fan of Avery's. Sure she gave him a hard time when it came to his role as a board member, but as a surgeon he reminded her so much of Mark she couldn't help but have a certain affinity for him.

"Because Torres..." He looked up from his computer and over at Callie's quizzical expression. "If I'm on your trial your Harper-Avery goes out the window...and you deserve this year's Harper-Avery."

Callie's eyes went wide with astonishment. Was an actual Avery telling her she was a shoo-in for a freaking Harper-Avery Award? "Are you saying..." she prompted, unsure if this was a real possibility or her mind finally crashing.

"I've _been_ saying it Callie. I think you'll get it," he answered with a smile.

Just then another person came into the lab and her appearance was hugely unexpected.

"Addison," the two surgeons said in sync as they recognized her at the same time.

"That's my name!" She offered a big Montgomery grin to them both and had a baby on her hip with a mission in mind.

"What are you doing here?" Callie stood up and met her old friend at the door.

"I got word that one of my best friends was about to win a prestigious medical award. I figured I had some free time, Henry's never been to Seattle, and I had to see all this for myself..." Her and Callie just smiled brightly at each other. But behind Callie's dark brown eyes, Addison spotted the pain still nestled there. "How are you?"

Callie spread her lips wider and lied, "I'm-I'm fine. The trial is good. Great even! Sofia is...good. I'm-"

"I know what happened Callie," Addison interrupted with an unconvinced stare.

"Oh...in that case I'm a mess."

"Thought so. Let's get lunch." Addison threw her arm around Callie's shoulder and they made their way to the cafeteria.

As they strolled through the halls they came upon the two people Callie least wanted to see. The beauty of her ortho trial was that she hardly ever left ortho and _never_ went to peds. But it was just her luck that the one time she did venture away from her work was the time Arizona and Lauren were chatting it up as they headed back to the NICU.

Callie was making faces at Henry as he sat on Addison's hip so when she finally looked up her stomach practically dropped.

"Callie.." Arizona gasped with a bit of apprehension. Her and Callie had not talked since their heated phone call before Callie came back to Seattle. Arizona wanted to deal with all the implications of that talk but not in front of Addison Montgomery, and definitely not in front of Lauren Boswell.

Callie rolled her eyes dramatically. She was not in the mood to look at Arizona and Lauren for more than a millisecond. Instead of responding she stuffs her hands deep into her lab coat and eyes something off to the side. The air amongst the foursome became very tense and very dry.

Addison took a wild guess as to who she was standing in front of and figured if no one else was going to talk she might as well take the plunge.

"Arizona, it's been a long time. You look good," she offered kindly. Arizona thanked her and and turned to Lauren who had been awkwardly looking away the up until that point.

"And this is Dr. Boswell, my um...she uhh..." Arizona wasn't really sure where to start. It was no problem though, Addison filled in the blanks.

She offered her hand to the taller blonde saying, "And you must be the woman that's screwing my best friend's wife."

Both Arizona and Lauren's jaws dropped. Boswell didn't know if she was more taken aback by the crude honesty or the cordial smile Addison was giving her. Regardless, she shook the offered hand and added, "Well this is extremely awkward."

"Yes...yes it is," Addison agreed.

Trying to salvage the moment Lauren figured she'd say something nice. "Yeah...so congratulations on the trial Callie."

All she got in response was the Latina's unamused stale-face and a spiked brow. Callie sighed and turned to face Henry. "Hey little man. How about we go find Sofia? Yeah?" She lifted him off Addison's hip and walked away as if nothing even happened.

Arizona was working on calling her to come back but her mouth wouldn't make words, so she hustled down the hall after Callie, hoping to actually hold a conversation.

The two women left behind didn't know each other in the least and had less than nothing to say to each other. Addison took to her signature bitch-stare and Lauren saw that as her sign to walk away...quickly.

Once she left Addy went to go catch up with Callie and her kid but only found Arizona waiting outside a women's restroom. She gave the blonde a curious look, not sure why she was loitering there.

"She ducked into the bathroom...I just want to talk," Arizona explained defeatedly. She didn't have any animosity left in her. All she wanted was to decide how the break-up would affect Sofia.

"How about you give her some space. I know you want to resolve some things. I've been through my fair share of breakups, fallouts, and divorces. Time is the only answer."

The peds surgeon fiddled with her earlobe a bit, a quirky habit when she was trying to make a decision. "Guess I can't stalk her. Can you tell her I just...we should talk."

"Sure," Addison replied with a crooked smile. She couldn't say she didn't feel some sympathy for Arizona. She had been on both sides of cheating and neither hurt more or less than the other.

When she walked into the bathroom she found Callie leaning back against the sink bouncing Henry in her arms. She looked to be somewhere between rage and tears, and Addison was nervous about tipping her either way.

"Callie?"

The brunette looked up and it was still unclear what kind of storm was brewing in her mind. Everything was a reminder of her shattered life, but the encounter in the hall took the cake.

"Let's go eat. I need to be distracted or else I'll start crying..." Callie walked over and handed Henry to his mom. "..._again_!"

* * *

Callie wouldn't let Addison get a hotel so she was in the apartment when Callie got home. Both babies were asleep in a playpen off the kitchen and Addy had taken a headstart on the drinking.

"God please pour me a large glass of whatever you're having," Callie groaned as she walked in. She was just about to slam the door when Addison started making bird-like motions so she wouldn't. Callie looked and saw Sof and Henry sleep and chuckled before softly closing the door.

She put her stuff down and took a seat next to Addison on the couch. The red haired woman handed her a glass full of red. "You're behind by two."

"I'll catch up," Callie assured as she took a healthy gulp.

From there the talk plummeted into the recounting of Callie's past year. It started with the plane crash, lingered on the storm, and covered her recent success in her medical trial. By the end of it Addison felt depressed by association. "Who goes through all of that within one year?"

"Me...and everyone we work with. It's the damn hospital I think," Callie suggested morbidly, trying to make light of the reality.

"Thank god I got out in time...no offense."

"None taken."

Then they both laughed really hard for the first time since Addy got there. It felt good, and relieving, and almost like a high. Callie actually hadn't really laughed in months. By the time they stopped her cheeks hurt and her abs were sore. it wasn't that funny but sometimes laughing is the only way to heal.

"I'm glad you're here," Callie said once she could speak.

Addison sat her drink down and looked at Callie with grave seriousness. "I know it has to be rough. Losing Mark was..." she had to take a second and swallow her grief. "It was hard on all of us. I think he loved you in a way he never loved anyone else. You were like his sister and his best friend and he just saw a lot of good in you that he wanted for himself, and Sofia too."

Trying to stay composed, Callie brushed her hand over her nose and sniffled some. "I know...I miss him so much."

"Now Arizona's with 'what's her name'-"

"Cristina calls her Blondie 2.0," Callie chuckled.

"Yang would, wouldn't she? The point is you have been to hell and back. The fact that you're still getting out of bed, yet alone _rocking_ this trial, is baffling to me!" They both laughed at that before Addison continued.

"When Derek left for good I spiraled! You're so much stronger though, Callie. It's admirable." Addison picked up her glass and tipped it to her friend.

Callie huffed in disbelief. "Admirable? There is nothing admirable about my two divorces, or me running home, or ruining my wife's life."

"You saved her life Callie. Nothing more, nothing less. And you did it because you loved her."

"I still love her. I'll probably _always_ love her." Callie threw her hand up and let it flop down in defeat.

"Not every kind of love can keep a marriage together. Not when it's not working." At this point Addy was speaking from experience.

The Latina shook her head in somber realization. "I don't think it's enough anymore. I pushed her...maybe faster than she was ready for. And I didn't stop to think about what was really happening, or happened, or anything. I...I just wanted our life back. I wanted _her_ back."

Callie's chest got tight with emotion as every struggle replayed in her head. She could see every sign she missed. She could remember every little moment she clung to and used as a veil. The divorce was not only Arizona's fault. There was blame to share.

"It seemed like we'd never get over it. So I forced it, and she forced it too so we could try to be normal...but things don't go the way you want them to."

Callie finished with a another swig of wine. She let her head fall back against the couch as the buzz started to kick in.

"Life's a bitch. But you my dear, will be okay. I know it," Addison assured the brunette. She raised her glass one more time before downing the rest. "You're hot. You're successful, about to win a Harper-Avery award. You'll be back on your feet in no time."

"Thanks Addy. You're a good friend," Callie drawled lazily as the need for sleep and the alcohol took over.

"I know. You're a good one too. Let's...let's get some sleep."

Addison stood up and helped Callie off the couch. She went and made sure Henry was okay and decided to let him lay where he was before heading to the guest room. Callie did the same for Sof and was sprawled across her bed in minutes.

There was the light haze of good wine and the stress of the day mingling in her mind, keeping her from real sleep. Again and again she tried to remember the point where she'd gone wrong. When exactly did she start losing hold of what was happening right in front of her? It was impossible to know. Even hindsight isn't clear enough to tell us what mistakes we've made.

And as she wrestled with it she slowly came to the realization that, as much as it hurt, and as hard as it was to accept, Arizona and her marriage were a thing of the past.

Neither seemed to be retrievable.

Both gone and lost.

She would always have good memories, and never forget the great love of her life. But she had to start coming to terms with exactly how much she lost in that terrible storm.

**AN: So I wont rant about people who are upset with this story, though I have urges to do so (lol). I just wanna say if you hate it you're allowed to, that's fine. You're also allowed to tell me about it (ergo the comment box down there). ****But so you know,** I'm determined to finish this regardless of the hate mail :) And maybe it'll help if you keep in mind that when people break up they try new things, with new people, and people from their past, and the copping mechanism gets screwy. That's life. If you're looking for a Calzona Fairytale there's a search bar around here somewhere and I suggest you utilize it because you're currently reading angst/drama (as is indicated in the genre field). Happy reading!


	6. Tear It Down

******Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to the wonderful Shonda Rhimes and ABC.**

We all like to think that we'll be the bigger person in a quarrel, brave in the face of danger, a good man in a storm. It's a romantic idea. Who wouldn't imagine themselves saving the infants from the crumbling building, then single-handedly constructing a new one. It's what we expect but hardly what we get. Truth is...when push comes to shove it's a lot of burden trying to be the hero. Most people wind up choosing the less painful poison. If the house of your dreams has been uprooted, and all your memories tainted, you don't do the floor-to-ceiling renovation. You go straight to the demolition. You tear it down.

* * *

It was weeks before Arizona got fed up with Callie's avoidance maneuvers. She'd seen the brunette pull every trick in the book to keep from talking with her. One time Callie even pretended to hear her pager, which meant Arizona should've heard it too...which she didn't.

It wasn't Calle's best moment...

Arizona decided to come up with a plan to force her wife (soon to be ex-wife) into confronting her. She had Karev lead Callie to a supply closet to help him find something ortho-related.

"Karev I'm busy. I don't even know what you're describing. I gotta-"

"Just look Torres. When you see it you'll know. I just need you to look," Alex insisted gruffly.

"Fine," the Latina groaned as she was practically shoved into the closet. "Hey where are you going?" she asked as Alex slipped back out the closet.

"Sorry about this. But you won't-"

"Oh my god!" Callie turned towards the voice behind her startled, and realized she had been tricked. She sighed aggravatedly and tried to open the door. Karev held it closed per Arizona's instructions, but couldn't say Callie wasn't giving him some trouble.

"Karev! Open this door!" Callie growled through gritted teeth.

Arizona kept her distance but tried to calm the other woman some. "I just want to talk Calliope."

Hearing her full name always had, and always would, play to Callie's soft spot. She fell in love with how sweet it sounded on Arizona's lips and that was likely to never change. She turned around slowly and flattened her expression. "I'm listening."

"What um...what are we doing Callie? You've been avoiding me since you got back to Seattle, I've been sneaking into daycare to see Sofia, we can't raise her like this," Arizona began.

Callie nodded contemplatively. She _had _been avoiding the blonde. She didn't have any answers so it seemed pointless to talk. She was so buried in her trial that she had successfully stopped the emotional hemorrhaging in her life. Thinking about her next steps with Arizona only undid that.

"Are we getting a divorce?" Arizona asked softly. She wasn't looking into Callie's eyes because that was unnerving, mostly because she knew the answer. Instead she focused on a floor tile as she waited for an response. Honestly she didn't know what she wanted to hear- yes or no.

Callie threw her hands up and let them flop against her sides in a loss. "I think so. I thought that I never wanted another divorce but what choice do I have, right?"

Arizona shrugged. She had played out a divorce in her mind a million times. Technically they weren't even married but had taken a lot of legal measures so their lives functioned as a marriage. Their wills were written in complement, the bank accounts were joint, their names were on the apartment, and hell, they owned a damn hospital together. They were as married as any other couple and a divorce would be messy none-the-less.

"Do you want a divorce," Callie questioned. She was nervous that the answer would be an uncontested and premeditated 'yes'.

But Arizona struggled "I don't, but..."

"But...?"

"Like you said, what choice...do we have," she trailed off.

It was hard for Arizona to swallow the fact that it was kind of her who left divorce as _thee _choice. God, she hated how everything happened. She wished she had said something sooner about what was going on internally. Said something before her will collapsed.

Callie saw the guilt pulsing through Arizona's expression. She didn't want to see her cry even though some nights she sat up thinking Arizona deserved it. She just wanted to get out of that freaking closet.

The ortho surgeon took a deep steadying breath and folded her arms stoically. "If we get a divorce I think you should see Sofia less."

"What?" Arizona was on the verge of tears but fell into disbelief with Callie's proposal. "Why on Earth?"

"She needs to learn to live without you. It's not fair if you're around now and once you move on you're gone," Callie reasoned. Her words were firm and the result of her own fear. She hated the thought of Arizona starting another family, with another woman, maybe in another city even. But she was forcing herself to accept all the possible outcomes and do what was best for her and her daughter.

"Who says I'm going anywhere? I'm not okay Callie. I didn't cheat because I _felt like it_. I've been trying to be something I'm not and it was tearing me apart from the inside out!" Arizona yelled.

She had been trying to explain it to herself. Figure out why it all came crashing down around her. Suddenly it was becoming very clear, erupting from her mind, as she faced the very scary idea of losing her daughter.

"You can't take her away from me..." she added more calmly, pleading more than demanding.

Callie's brown orbs wandered aimlessly through the small space. They gazed intermittently at Arizona's downtrodden demeanor but mostly searched the shadows for an answer she didn't have.

"I just don't want Sofia to know what it feels like to lose you. I know...and it makes it hard for me to feel anything except sadness every single day," Callie explained. It was the most honest way she could put it.

Finally their eyes met and it was not as icy as their previous encounters. It was soft and sorrowful. The love they had was fractured and wounded. There was a struggle to hold each other's gaze though it had once been the easiest thing in the world. They'd reached a terrible stalemate.

"Sofia. Is. My baby. I'm her momma and I will fight for her Callie."

"Fight what Arizona? I know you love her and she loves you, but what are you fighting. She doesn't deserve to be left one day when she actually gets what's happening," the Latina said sharply. She didn't understand how Arizona would even risk hurting Sofia.

In the heat of the moment Arizona stepped closer to Callie and started accenting her words with hand motions. "Her name is Robbin. We have legal documents saying she's mine. I would never, not in a million years, leave her. I'm _going_ to see her," Arizona reiterated, her words laced in anger and determination.

Callie folded her arms tighter and cocked her head in disbelief. She respected Arizona's stance but no one was going to tell her what to do with her daughter. "Really? We'll see about that," Callie hissed.

She whipped around and muscled the door open swiftly. Karev wasn't expecting it so all her strength was more than enough to send the peds fellow stumbling into the adjacent wall. The worked-up Latina stormed out the closet and down the hall. Karev got his bearings together and watched as an angry Arizona emerged from the closet next.

"How'd it go," he asked dryly, more than positive it was as much of a disaster as it seemed.

"Go do rounds Karev," Arizona sneered with a shoo of her hand. She rubbed her temple and closed her eyes for a moment. That was not what she wanted...at all.

* * *

The only thing going moderately okay for the head of peds was the operation of her ward. She was down to only three terminal patients, had cleared half of her recovery patients, and had gotten word of some promising graduating residents looking for a fellowship at Grey Sloan.

Up in peds was the only place Arizona felt normal. She still wasn't the rockstar woman she was months ago, but she was certainly getting back to being a rockstar surgeon. It wasn't often that she got to stop and take it all in so she was enjoying the fleeting silence around her at an empty nurses' station. The calm was relaxing enough to distract her from the person walking up behind her.

"Woah," Arizona squealed as that someone discreetly and playfully pinched her ass. "Lauren!"

"_What_?" the taller blonde purred quietly, close to Arizona's ear. "You wear those hills and what? I'm supposed to not look?"

Arizona rolled her eyes, grabbed some charts beside her and tried to get serious. "Look. Not touch. Plus, I don't want everyone to know about..."

"About what? Me and you? Because I think they know Arizona," Lauren said with a hint of aggravation. It was no secret to anyone in the hospital that Arizona and Callie had split, and more than likely she was sleeping with Lauren.

"Yes yes, I know that gossip spreads threw this hospital like the plague. I know. But I'm not ready for a full blown, public..._thing_." Arizona was trying to be polite and not offend Lauren, but they weren't on the same page. Possibly not in the same book.

Lauren's smile straightened into a line and she nodded her head slowly. "I told you, I like you a lot. But it seems you don't really feel the same..."

"How could I?!" Arizona snapped, her voice raised a little higher than she intended. Suddenly half a dozen eyes were on the two women and it was becoming a scene.

Silently they decided to move to an on-call room and lock the door behind them.

Feeling bad that she yelled, Arizona softened her tone some. "Coming out of a marriage, which ended poorly, makes it hard for me to be intimate."

"Intimate in public? Because it works just fine behind closed doors."

Arizona dropped her gaze to the floor because Lauren had a point. Letting herself give in to the affection, and lust, and desire, was so much simpler when it wasn't on display. When there were people to witness all she felt was gut-wrenching guilt. The same guilt she felt the moment Callie found out about the affair.

"Maybe..." she admitted.

"'_Maybe'_ isn't really fair. I get that you and Callie were in love once but last I checked you two were over and I'm trying. I want _us _to work and give _us_ a chance. I can't say the same for you,"

It was obvious that she saw something in their relationship no matter how dysfunctional the circumstances were. It was a quality about Arizona that made it impossible to just let go. Lauren was not interested in simply walking away.

"I get that it's not fair. _I get that_. But that doesn't change that having a public relationship is hard for me. I wish it wasn't," Arizona responded.

She wanted to be emotionally stable enough to at least try things with Lauren, because she'd been supportive ever since the break-up. Arizona refused to push herself though. If she wasn't ready she was going to wait until she was. The last time she tried to force herself into change, she lost the woman she loved.

"I wish it wasn't too. And I hope that changes."

The silence got uncomfortable and Lauren figured there was nothing left to say so she left, leaving Arizona to toy with the idea that it was not going to be okay to keep their current arrangement much longer.

* * *

If hospitals are cold and depressing, then law firms are hell incarnate. Callie slowly made her way through the marble paved halls as the sound of her high heels echoed off the mahogany walls. She was nervous about what she was planning to do. It was reversible but that'd be just as difficult as making it happen. Still, she continued through the halls looking for the door that said Attorney Samantha Waters.

Ms. Waters was the family law attorney that Carlos hired to have Arizona legally enacted as Sofia's parent. She worked wonders to make sure when it came to big decisions both mothers were equally responsible and liable for their daughter. Callie figured she was probably the only lawyer in America capable of _undoing_ it all.

When she finally spotted the gold-plated placard mounted on the last door in the hall, she felt her heart flutter anxiously. Was this the right thing to do? Was this going way too far? Was this a knee-jerk reaction to all the problems she couldn't fix?

Callie pushed out an uncertain breath and quieted her thoughts for a moment. She had decided she was doing what was best for Sofia. Her little girl was getting older everyday. Smarter everyday. Eventually she'd realize she lost her father before she even knew him. She didn't need to have Arizona be apart of her life if there was any chance of losing her too.

After a relatively confident knock a vaguely familiar voice beckoned Callie into the office. In the late afternoon the room was dimly light by only a desk lamp. Ms. Waters wore chic black reading frames as she fingered line after line of legal rhetoric. She didn't stop reading as the ortho surgeon made her way inside and closed the door behind her. Ms. Waters's preoccupation gave Callie the chance to study the woman for the first time in over a year.

She remember very little about the attorney and was content in reacquainting herself with her form as she kept reading. After a very long two minutes, she looked up and was rendered speechless. She thought her next consult was with Mr. Arthur, an 80 year old man who was trying to leave his money to his teenage daughter instead of his 20 year old wife. Instead there was Calliope...a _very_ pleasant surprise.

"Mrs. Torres, I thought our meeting was for later," Ms. Waters asked in her debonair British accent.

"Oh gosh," Callie choked, suddenly pulled from the trance she so easily slipped into. "Was it? I had it written down as now."

Ms. Waters opened the top drawer of her desk and pulled out an iPad. She scrolled down her calendar and realized it was she who had remembered wrong. "My mistake. You are most certainly not Mr. Arthur...in the least."

Ms. Waters pulled her glasses off to fully drink in the view before her until she remembered her manners. "Do have a seat."

Callie smiled awkwardly under Ms. Waters's intense gaze as she slid into the antique, leather-lined armchair. She tapped her thumb on the manila folder she brought with her as the other brunette tried to find the files on Callie's old case.

"Ah! So it seems as though about 15 months ago I had one Arizona Robbins, your domestic partner, added to your will as legal seer to Sofia's trust fund in the case of your untimely death. She was also enacted as a legal guardian in the state of Washington. Given Article 35 custodial rights of Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres in the case of both parent's untimely death. And...well a whole host of other things," the lawyer read from her files. She began to recall all the footwork and loopholes she had to go through to get all that done.

She looked up at Callie with a warm smile feeling reminiscent and proud of her legal handiwork. "So what is it you're looking to have done now?"

The Latina gnawed the inside of her bottom lip as she paused. She hesitated once more. Was she really sure?

Then her look of worry dissipated as she thought of how much heartache she might be sparing Sofia. She handed the folder over to Ms. Waters and said, "I want to undo it...All of it."

Samantha looked up with her brows knit into a look of confusion. "Come again," she muttered as she took the folder.

She opened it up and began reading through leases that no longer had Arizona's name, bills paid for from separate accounts, daycare logs that only showed Callie's signature, and written statements regarding a public and embarrassing case of infidelity and separation.

"So you two have split?"

"Yes."

"And you don't want her to have parental rights in regards to Sofia anymore?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure about this? I mean it took us a hell of lot to get this done. To undo the _undo_ would be a hat trick of epic proportions. Something I myself may not be capable of," Sam exalted, doing her best to test Callie's resolve. She enjoyed her job, and the checks were nice, but she wasn't in the business of letting people make stupid mistakes.

"Yes," Callie declared firmly.

Sam looked her square in the eye and searched for the uncertainty. She wondered if deep down, later on, Callie would hate having made this decision. All she saw in those dark brown eyes was strength. That's all the confirmation she needed.

"Right then. You have yourself a lawyer...again," Sam said, offering her hand as a sign of her word. Once she was onboard for a case, she was _all the way_ onboard.

"Great," Callie sighed heavily. She had been subconsciously holding her breath. This whole thing- deciding to separate Arizona from Sofia- was not easy but she was relieved that she had taken the plunge and finally gotten it underway.

"Now before we start, you have to tell me, who on Earth does your hair. It's...gorgeous really." Ms. Waters pointed out. Her voice was just slightly lower and her gaze slightly narrowed in a way Callie could only think of as sensual.

"Wow, ummm. No one. I kind of just, bleh," Callie answered, waving the compliment off, blushing fiercely.

Sam appreciated the real smile spreading across her client's face. "You know, you should smile more quite honestly."

"Well thank you Ms. Waters," Callie replied candidly, trying to seem composed as she was so clearly being hit on.

"Call me Sam."

"Samantha," the Latina countered, not ready to be quite so personal. She couldn't deny how good it felt to feel wanted. That had been missing in her life for longer than she wanted to think about.

"Samantha it is, Ms Torres." Sam was just baiting her client, hoping to be corrected, and offered something less formal.

"Callie's good."

"How about we set a date then Callie?"

"Woah, I just...we just...it's a bit soon to date," Callie answered, her demeanor as frazzled as could be.

"A time I mean. To go over some things about the case..." Sam tried not to openly giggle at Callie's reaction.

"Right," and now the ortho surgeon was doubly embarrassed. "How about I email you, because now I need to run away in shame."

"What a pity. This was a pleasant change in scenery, Callie," Sam suggested coyly.

The red hot blush rushed back over Callie's features. "Thank you for taking the case. But I uh...I have to get going. I'll be sure to set something else up."

"Promise?"

Callie stumbled to her feet and smoothed her skirt out. She tripped a bit as she backed away and Sam stood to walk her out. She was so distracted with the lawyer's full-body figure that she didn't hear the question.

"I'll take that as a yes," Sam said playfully referring to Callie's doe-eyed silence.

"What? Oh! Yes yes. I totally promise to make an appointment."

"Not a date though," Sam insisted as she reached around Callie and slowly opened to door for the retreating surgeon.

"Right. Not a date," she reiterated as she teetered out the door and turned down the hall.

"See you Callie."

"Definitely," the Latina shouted over her shoulder as she hustled down the hall.

By the time Callie got to her car she was dizzy with emotion. She just made a huge irreparable decision and been flirted with by an extremely attractive woman. She didn't know if she was excited, nervous, happy, or what...

She gripped her steering wheel until her knuckles went white and she got her thoughts together. She put the car in drive and pulled out the parking lot to go home. The whole ride she replayed the meeting again and again. Over and over.

Was Samantha hitting on her or was it wishful thinking? Did it even matter? She was not by any means ready for another relationship.

Whatever was happening with Ms. Waters was really only an afterthought. What was important was Callie taking steps towards change. At the end of the day that's what mattered. She had lost the relationship that meant everything to her. Her life had become rooted in her marriage and her family with Arizona. It was time that she start moving on. The best thing she could do was stop picking through the scraps that the storm left behind and throw caution to the wind. She was finally tearing down the remains of something that collapsed long ago.

**AN: Posted this early because everyone was wondering if Callie would have some new interest...well let me introduce you to Samantha Waters (ref face: Samantha Barks). Also, some were wondering if Calzona was endgame in this story. Did you catch the answer hidden between the lines? Happy reading!**


End file.
